Event-by-event fluctuations of magnetic and electric fields in heavy ion collisions

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that proton position fluctuations in heavy ion collisions produce extremely strong, event-specific electric and magnetic fields, impacting observable phenomena and offering a way to measure the medium's electric conductivity.

Contribution

It reveals how proton position fluctuations generate intense, event-by-event electromagnetic fields and discusses their implications for experimental observations in heavy ion collisions.

Findings

Magnetic and electric fields reach ~10^18 Gauss in each event.

Fluctuations influence the detection of electric dipoles.

Potential to measure electric conductivity of the hot medium.

Abstract

We show that fluctuating proton positions in the colliding nuclei generate, on the event-by-event basis, very strong magnetic and electric fields in the direction both parallel and perpendicular to the reaction plane. The magnitude of E and B fields in each event is of the order of m_pi^2 \approx 10^18 Gauss. Implications on the observation of electric dipole in heavy ion collisions is discussed, and the possibility of measuring the electric conductivity of the hot medium is pointed out.